Hi everyone! I am suffering from "having-to-leave-Universal" depression syndrome so I thought I would tell ya'll about our trip. I didn't take notes daily or anything so I think I will just tell the highlights and random thoughts about our trip as they come to mind.
My family: Me and husband, daughters: 18 and 22. (My parents, 70 ish, joined us at RPR.)
We flew into MCO and took a taxi to RPR. This was easy enough for us and the cost ($40 w/tip) was about the same as a shuttle for 4 and cheaper than a towncar. We did not need a grocery store stop or anything so this worked well for us.
We have stayed at PBH and HRH so now we have stayed at all three. The RPR is a beautiful hotel and the Christmas decorations were lovely, too. I don't want to be negative but I do have to say that I did not have a great experience checking in (or out for that matter.) On check-in there was a good bit of confusion (won't bore you with all that) and it took too long to get our room keys so we could hit the parks. On check out, they had charged the wrong rate for one of our three rooms. When I went to get this worked out, the front desk rep did not speak English all that well and it took longer to solve this problem than it should. I feel sorry for guests who do not speak English or the native language of their front desk rep - a real communication nightmare-two people who don't speak a common language. I really wish RPR would consider having front desk people who speak English well. But, enough of that. Just a small blip on the screen of an otherwise wonderful trip.
I had faxed a request for a room in Tower 1 on an upper floor with a great park view. We got rooms 1546, 1548 and 1550. The view was great - Dr. Doom and Hulk. We could see DD in the distance. As others have said, lying on your bed watching the Hulk is so great! All 3 rooms were double queen rooms. 1548 and 1550 were connected. We were close to the door that leads to the walking path. The room was nice and clean and large enough. If anyone has any questions about the rooms I'll be glad to answer them. Actually, we were not in the room much more than to sleep. Someday I hope to be able to stay long enough to get spend more time in the hotel but we enjoy the parks so much that we are there as much as possible.
We arrived on a Saturday and the parks were busy but with the unlimited express pass (UEP) we virtually walked on to all the rides/shows in the Studios. I just love that park. We spent the first afternoon there. Shrek, Jimmy Neutron and the Mummy were new since the last time we were at US. We enjoyed them all. The Mummy ride is extraordinary! We do miss Kong but we were happy to see him in the treasure room. Jaws at night was so cool! We rode MIB many times and on the last ride we got "Galaxy Defenders" and the suit! I averaged around 350,000 thanks to the tips on this board. Maybe if I got to play more I could get closer to 999,999. We got a couple of rides on Back to the Future - still awesome after all these years and ET is a nostalgic favorite of ours. I am a huge Lucy fan so I was thrilled to see the Ricardos perform and get my picture made with them. The Macy's parade was so festive and fun, too! The Beetlejuice show was fun, too - I love the music they use (definitely PG-13). The Christmas decorations were so beautiful and festive particularly in the New York area.
Even when the park got really, really crowded on the days we were there, we never waited more than 15 - 20 minutes in the express line. I don't know what the waits were in the other lines.
In IOA we enjoyed the Seuss Trolley. When my girls were small we read all the Dr. Seuss stories, even the more obscure ones like "Too Many Daves" so we loved this ride. On Christmas day when we were riding, a driving rain storm began and the rain was blowing sideways turning the Seuss Trolley into a water ride! We laughed so hard when this happened! This was the only new ride for us in IOA. The old favorites, Hulk, Spiderman, Cat In the Hat, Dueling Dragons, Flying Unicorn were still as fun as ever.
The restaurants at UO are so unbelievable. We ate at Bubba Gump - wonderful food, atmosphere and service. I can't remember the names of all we got but it was all delicious. On Christmas Day we had lunch at Mythos and it was delicious as well. Two of us got the chef's pizza of the day: smoked turkey, cheese and this great balsamic drizzle. I wish I had one right now. I can't remember what everyone got but I know everyone was thrilled with their meal. Then one night we ate at Tchoup Chop - oh, my goodness it was fabulous! The atmosphere is so beautiful and interesting. We sat in a booth with loose cushions to lean back on - so comfortable and lovely. Older daughter and I got the Clay Pot with Mahi, husband got New York strip-something, one daughter got macadamia encrusted salmon and we had the calamari appetizer. I don't have enough adjectives to describe the wonderfulness of this food! Anyone going to Orlando needs to try this restaurant. We also ate at Jakes in the RPR - good food and atmosphere. In the parks we ate at Monster Cafe - counter service but tasty pizza and salads and Confiscos - sit down service - good food. Every morning we ate at Pastamore in City Walk - I would get a side order of scrambled eggs, bacon and coffee for around $6 - a good way to start the day. Opens at 8:00 a.m. We also had great meals at Margaritaville and Hard Rock Cafe.
On Christmas Eve we took a taxi to First Baptist Orlando to attend the candlelight service. What a huge church! They had a lovely service and seeing all those people lighting candles was a moving experience.
Staying onsite at UO is the way to go. We used the water taxi mostly to get to and from the parks. The hotels are so convenient. With my parents being older they could tour the parks with us until they got tired and then return to the hotel for a rest while the rest of us kept going at the parks. My daughters could come and go as they wanted - and with UEP - well you just can't beat it!
I'm glad to answer any questions anyone might have.
Nan
My family: Me and husband, daughters: 18 and 22. (My parents, 70 ish, joined us at RPR.)
We flew into MCO and took a taxi to RPR. This was easy enough for us and the cost ($40 w/tip) was about the same as a shuttle for 4 and cheaper than a towncar. We did not need a grocery store stop or anything so this worked well for us.
We have stayed at PBH and HRH so now we have stayed at all three. The RPR is a beautiful hotel and the Christmas decorations were lovely, too. I don't want to be negative but I do have to say that I did not have a great experience checking in (or out for that matter.) On check-in there was a good bit of confusion (won't bore you with all that) and it took too long to get our room keys so we could hit the parks. On check out, they had charged the wrong rate for one of our three rooms. When I went to get this worked out, the front desk rep did not speak English all that well and it took longer to solve this problem than it should. I feel sorry for guests who do not speak English or the native language of their front desk rep - a real communication nightmare-two people who don't speak a common language. I really wish RPR would consider having front desk people who speak English well. But, enough of that. Just a small blip on the screen of an otherwise wonderful trip.
I had faxed a request for a room in Tower 1 on an upper floor with a great park view. We got rooms 1546, 1548 and 1550. The view was great - Dr. Doom and Hulk. We could see DD in the distance. As others have said, lying on your bed watching the Hulk is so great! All 3 rooms were double queen rooms. 1548 and 1550 were connected. We were close to the door that leads to the walking path. The room was nice and clean and large enough. If anyone has any questions about the rooms I'll be glad to answer them. Actually, we were not in the room much more than to sleep. Someday I hope to be able to stay long enough to get spend more time in the hotel but we enjoy the parks so much that we are there as much as possible.
We arrived on a Saturday and the parks were busy but with the unlimited express pass (UEP) we virtually walked on to all the rides/shows in the Studios. I just love that park. We spent the first afternoon there. Shrek, Jimmy Neutron and the Mummy were new since the last time we were at US. We enjoyed them all. The Mummy ride is extraordinary! We do miss Kong but we were happy to see him in the treasure room. Jaws at night was so cool! We rode MIB many times and on the last ride we got "Galaxy Defenders" and the suit! I averaged around 350,000 thanks to the tips on this board. Maybe if I got to play more I could get closer to 999,999. We got a couple of rides on Back to the Future - still awesome after all these years and ET is a nostalgic favorite of ours. I am a huge Lucy fan so I was thrilled to see the Ricardos perform and get my picture made with them. The Macy's parade was so festive and fun, too! The Beetlejuice show was fun, too - I love the music they use (definitely PG-13). The Christmas decorations were so beautiful and festive particularly in the New York area.
Even when the park got really, really crowded on the days we were there, we never waited more than 15 - 20 minutes in the express line. I don't know what the waits were in the other lines.
In IOA we enjoyed the Seuss Trolley. When my girls were small we read all the Dr. Seuss stories, even the more obscure ones like "Too Many Daves" so we loved this ride. On Christmas day when we were riding, a driving rain storm began and the rain was blowing sideways turning the Seuss Trolley into a water ride! We laughed so hard when this happened! This was the only new ride for us in IOA. The old favorites, Hulk, Spiderman, Cat In the Hat, Dueling Dragons, Flying Unicorn were still as fun as ever.
The restaurants at UO are so unbelievable. We ate at Bubba Gump - wonderful food, atmosphere and service. I can't remember the names of all we got but it was all delicious. On Christmas Day we had lunch at Mythos and it was delicious as well. Two of us got the chef's pizza of the day: smoked turkey, cheese and this great balsamic drizzle. I wish I had one right now. I can't remember what everyone got but I know everyone was thrilled with their meal. Then one night we ate at Tchoup Chop - oh, my goodness it was fabulous! The atmosphere is so beautiful and interesting. We sat in a booth with loose cushions to lean back on - so comfortable and lovely. Older daughter and I got the Clay Pot with Mahi, husband got New York strip-something, one daughter got macadamia encrusted salmon and we had the calamari appetizer. I don't have enough adjectives to describe the wonderfulness of this food! Anyone going to Orlando needs to try this restaurant. We also ate at Jakes in the RPR - good food and atmosphere. In the parks we ate at Monster Cafe - counter service but tasty pizza and salads and Confiscos - sit down service - good food. Every morning we ate at Pastamore in City Walk - I would get a side order of scrambled eggs, bacon and coffee for around $6 - a good way to start the day. Opens at 8:00 a.m. We also had great meals at Margaritaville and Hard Rock Cafe.
On Christmas Eve we took a taxi to First Baptist Orlando to attend the candlelight service. What a huge church! They had a lovely service and seeing all those people lighting candles was a moving experience.
Staying onsite at UO is the way to go. We used the water taxi mostly to get to and from the parks. The hotels are so convenient. With my parents being older they could tour the parks with us until they got tired and then return to the hotel for a rest while the rest of us kept going at the parks. My daughters could come and go as they wanted - and with UEP - well you just can't beat it!
I'm glad to answer any questions anyone might have.
Nan
